The Institute of Export & International Trade has called on government to provide greater support for businesses dealing with new customs procedures for UK-EU trade introduced on 1 January.
Marco Forgione, the IOE&IT’s director general, delivered this message at a meeting last week with the new Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng MP.
The IOE&IT’s meeting, held virtually, was an opportunity for the Institute to get across its members' concerns to the minister.
Kwarteng is the Conservative MP for Spelthorne and has been recently appointed to the Cabinet role. He replaced Alok Sharma, who stepped down to lead the UK’s hosting of climate change conference COP26.
Rules of Origin issue
The subjects of VAT, double tariffs and Rules of Origin were also raised with the minister.
In particular, trader confusion around origin rules was highlighted as an issue hindering firms from taking advantage of the UK’s free trade deal with the EU agreed on 24 December.
“The Institute can help with training and consultancy for international traders,” Forgione said after the meeting. “However, more funding needs to made available to ensure businesses are not held back by the workload involved in post-transition trade administration.”
Services surplus
Forgione also drew the minister’s attention to the services sector, which delivers a significant trade surplus for the UK (£93.2bn in 2018). “Services continue to be overlooked when trade is being discussed and need to be a priority in future trade negotiations,” Forgione said.
The meeting was “a valuable session and the Institute appreciates the time the minister took and the consideration he gave to our views,” Forgione said.
“We look forward to the government’s actions demonstrating that internationally trading businesses will be at the heart of the UK’s industrial strategy.”
